Vatican City, Jan 19, 2011 / 14:06 pm
Pope Benedict XVI has appointed the president and staff for a new independent department responsible for overseeing the financial activities of Vatican agencies. The move comes after an investigation by Italian bank authorities into money transfers by the Vatican bank.
Cardinal Attilio Nicora, currently president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, will now also head the new "watchdog" agency called the Financial Information Authority, which the Pope established at the end of 2010.
Four members of the directing council will support Cardinal Nicora, who is charged with preventing money laundering, fraud and other possible abuses in Vatican agencies and their affiliates. He will also be responsible for maintaining relations with European Union financial oversight bodies.
The Jan. 19 action by Pope Benedict comes after an investigation this past September in which Italian authorities seized just over $30 million deposited by the Vatican's bank, known as the Institute for the Works of Religion, at the private Italian bank Credito Artigiano SpA.